The Super Reliable Papa Pump

It’s been a while, but we’re finally getting feedback on the Super Reliable Papa Pump!

The problem with having such a super reliable product such as the Papa Pump is that you rarely hear from your customers. Many customers have installed their pump, enjoyed many years of trouble-free water pumping and, frankly, forgotten about it. It pumps away 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and the owners get on with their busy lives.

So it was good to hear from Julian Tennant who had taken over his Cornish farm 9 years ago. With the farm came a working Papa Pump – one of the original metal models – which pumps water from the stream to the farmhouse and for the livestock.

For 9 years, he has not spent one penny on maintenance and the pump was still working on its original set of valves and ‘O’ rings!

As Julian explains…

“The pump sits 10 metres below the source of the spring, and from there is able to lift water 50 metres to the highest point on the farm (from where it is gravity-fed everywhere else). We are fortunate to have mains electricity at the pump site. However, when you use an electric pump it makes you appreciate just how much energy is required to lift water (energy which a hydro ram extracts for free). Our heavy duty (1.6kw) electric pump needs to run for a total of 8 hours per day to lift the same quantity of water as the Papa Pump over 24 hours; that 8 hours consumes 13 units of electricity, costing £2/day (@15p/kwh) = £700/year in running costs.

When the pump seals finally required replacing recently, we were so pleased with the pump and the money it has saved that we simply purchased a new Papa Pump.

If you are fortunate enough to have a flowing water source, I would strongly recommend considering whether a Papa Pump could be used to provide lift as an alternative to using electric pumps. Initial costs are comparable (once you add the cost of the power supply and an enclosure required by the electric pump), maintenance costs are very low in either case, but annual running costs with a Papa Pump could be significantly lower; in our case, zero annual running costs for the Papa Pump versus £700/year if we were to lift with electricity.”